The road-widening work due to start in Telford town centre next week is just part of a larger £12.3m project.

Over £11m of that is coming from the Department for Transport and the majority of it (£7m) will be spent on a new footbridge, connecting the town centre to the railway station.

Image source, Google

The rest will be spent on improving roads around the town centre, including Rampart Way and Hall Park Way.

Whitchurch Herald

A Whitchurch wildlife reserve has been granted a £5m windfall to accelerate restoration of its land., external

Image source, Whitchurch Herald

Telford and Wrekin Council has got its gritters out again tonight, as a test-run for the real cold weather.

And the authority has tweeted the warning "winter is coming" - presumably a reference to one of the frequently used catchphrases in the popular Game of Thrones TV series.

Image source, AP

Shropshire's Clinical Commissioning Group has been looking at further measures to reduce its growing deficit and that could include asking patients to pay for medicines like paracetamol in the future.

The CCG, which is forecast to be £26m in the red by the end of the financial year might also stop providing gluten free foods.

Its outgoing accountable officer David Evans said after the CCG board meeting that the financial turnaround could take some time.

Andy Giddings
BBC Shropshire

Our headlines this evening:

- Prime minister says Shropshire hospitals decision should be in hands of local people 

- Shropshire CCG could stop free paracetamol as part of cost-cutting measures

- Multimillion-pound road-widening work to start

The MP for Shrewsbury is meeting Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt this afternoon, to discuss plans to reorganise hospital services in the county.

Proposals to downgrade one of two A&Es in the county and possibly move the women and children's unit from Telford to Shrewsbury have angered politicians in Telford, but Daniel Kawczynski says it's important to let the people leading the NHS in the county make the decision.

Work will start next Monday to widen Rampart Way, external in Telford and turn it into a dual carriageway.

Telford and Wrekin council is also planning to widen Hall Park Way at a future date and says that with Telford town centre expected to get busier it needs to improve traffic flow and links to the M54.

Image source, Google

Funding for the work has come from the Department for Transport and from money contributed by developers as a condition of planning approval for housing schemes.

Work on Rampart Way is expected to be completed in April, with work on Hall Park Way due to start immediately afterwards and be completed by next September.

Andy Giddings
BBC Shropshire

An online reader used Your Questions to ask: "Which has the largest population Telford or Shrewsbury?"

The obvious answer to this is "Telford" but there is a question of how you want to define Telford and Shrewsbury.

At the most recent census,, external carried out in 2011, Shrewsbury had a population of 71,715 and Telford 138,241.

If you decide to define Telford purely as the Telford parliamentary constituency, then the Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency is larger - 90,856 compared to 102,879. 

But that would exclude areas which fall within the Wrekin constituency, which are traditionally considered part of Telford.

And if you want to define Telford as the wider Telford and Wrekin local authority area, then its population is estimated by the Office for National Statistics to be a little over 170,000.

Send us Your Questions about Shropshire.

The AFC Telford United Supporters' Trust leaders are meeting tonight to discuss proposals to change the way the club is run.

They are considering relinquishing control of the club, to make it more attractive to outside investors and that will be put to members at a full meeting on Monday.

The chair of the supporters trust, Steve Bowyer, has said it is important that as many members as possible get to cast their vote.

Telford Tigers are urging their fans to turn out in force this Sunday, for the top-of-the-table clash with Milton Keynes Lightning.

Telford currently hold a slender one point lead at the top of the EPL table, but they lost to their rivals 4-3 away at Milton Keynes last weekend.

Image source, Steve Brodie

The Tigers have been getting attendances around the 800 mark this season, but are hoping for more than 1,000 supporters to pack the Telford Ice Rink for this match.

The MP for Shrewsbury, Daniel Kawczynski, has raised the issue of Shropshire's hospitals at Prime Minister's Questions this afternoon.

This is how the exchange went.

The list of potential Shrewsbury Town managers is getting steadily smaller as the club get closer to naming their man.

Steve Cotterill, Tony Mowbray, Nigel Jemson and Sean O'Driscoll have all said they don't want the job, although O'Driscoll said he might be interested in a coaching role.

Image source, Getty Images

Another man being linked with the club, Jim Bentley, has said he is focused on his current job at Morcambe.

Andy Giddings
BBC Shropshire

Here's a recap of our top stories this afternoon:

- Latest forecast is for Shropshire CCG to be £26m in the red by April

- Prime minister says hospitals reorganisation should be left to people of Shropshire

- Much Wenlock nursing home beds will continue to get NHS funding

Farmers, including a representative from Shropshire, are part of talks in Brussels today. 

The National Farmers Union is calling for "a bold vision" to secure nearly four million jobs for people who work in the British food and farming industries.

Image source, NFU

Shropshire's NFU Chairman Richard Yates says now is more important than ever to maintain dialogue with Europe.

Andy Giddings
BBC Shropshire

This is one of the best photos of Shropshire we've had in the 11(ish) months we've been running the BBC Shropshire Local Live service.

It was taken from Lyth Hill by Rev Mark Salmon and shows the Wrekin surrounded by hazy cloud.

Image source, Rev Mark Salmon

Ian Perry
BBC Radio Shropshire

A home for unwanted exotic pets has been set up at the British Ironwork Centre near Oswestry.

It's being run by a company called Zoosbury, external, which already looks after unusual animals when their owners go on holiday.

The company says it will use the animals to educate visitors and teach them about conservation.

It already has lizards, snakes and these hissing Madagascar cockroaches.

Newport Advertiser

Hundreds of homes near Newport temporarily lost power this morning., external

The former head of Shropshire's Clinical Commissioning Group, David Evans, says he would like to see cooperation with the Telford CCG continue.

Mr Evans has been running both organisations for the past five months, but has been replaced at the Shropshire CCG at the request of NHS England - which wanted a financial turnaround specialist at the helm.

He also said the Shropshire CCG, which is forecast to be £26m in deficit by the end of the financial year, was not a "sinking ship".

The Prime Minister has told the House of Commons that it was important that local people have their voices heard over the future of Shropshire's hospitals and said "we all want to see A&E services, they're a vital service".

Theresa May was responding to a question from the Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski, who asked the government to provide financial backing, once a decision on the future of service has been made.

Mr Kawczynski has said that the decision needs to be taken by the NHS in Shropshire, free from political interference.

BBC Weather Watchers

The weather might be grey and gloomy, but the photos from the BBC Weather Watchers are making it look dramatic.

These ones were taken this morning near Ludlow and Cleobury Mortimer.

Image source, Foggy

Image source, Cleobury Matt